The prompt was this picture:
and the directions: "This is a skeleton of a woman. At her feet is the skeleton of a baby. Tell me a story about this woman and her baby. Where did they live? What did the woman do in her daily life? How did they die? Why are they buried like this? Be creative but be accurate."
Some responses:
- Death in childbirth
- The woman was the Queen of Egypt. She and her baby were killed by an enemy.
- Killed by a burglar
- Thief killed by fellow townsfolk
- Disease
- Mother gave up unwanted baby but then changed her mind and went to the house where she'd given the baby up, where the foster mother had fought with her boyfriend and accidentally stepped on the baby and fell, killing the baby and herself, but the boyfriend didn't tell the mother what happened
- Many, many votes for death by volcano
So that section went well. But on the whole, a disappointing test. I think the kids really didn't study (my evidence for this is the number of kids who asked me at lunch "Do we have a test or something?" and the kids who looked stunned to come into the classroom and find a test). I did have some A's and a couple of B's, but the mode grade was an F.
I'm sending the test home with a letter that the parents have to sign saying that they looked at the test with their kids. Then I'm going to crack down in learning vocabulary. I hate flashcards, but it may be the only thing to do...
Any suggestions?
2 comments:
I don't know how long your class periods are, but you could try this: as a 5-minute opener each day, put five words on the board, and ask the kids to define each word and use it in a sentence. Maybe to start, go with three, and once they get used it, bump it up to five. Or, as a closer, have them do the same with five words they learned that day.
As far as bad tests go, that's going to happen wherever you teach. Kids often gauge how they need to prepare for tests by the first one you give. They take you seriously after you give the first one and they bomb it. :-)
I don't know if you have a classroom calendar, but if you don't, I highly recommend one. I have a wet-erase one, and each class has a color, which is also used on my in-boxes, the homework board, and the make-up work bin. Q = Quiz, T = Test, L = Lab (not so relevant for you), OH = Office Hours. You put, for example, the red Q on Friday--I usually do it in front of the class so they see it happen--and then they have no excuse for not knowing and remembering. That also keeps me from putting it on the calendar and then forgetting to tell them until the day before...
If you do flashcards, you can try to have them draw what they mean instead of writing it down. Or maybe both. I'm guessing they might be at too high of a level though.
Post a Comment